On March 4, 2026, the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) held a hearing in the IEEPA duty litigation. Following the hearing, the court issued an order directing the Government to liquidate any unliquidated entries that were entered with IEEPA without regard to IEEPA duties, and to reliquidate any liquidated entries for which liquidation is not final, without regard to IEEPA duties. During the hearing the presiding judge made clear that CBP must refund all IEEPA duties that have been collected from any importer.
The order is unlikely to take effect immediately because we expect the Government to file an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and ask the appellate court to stay the CIT’s order.
On March 6, 2026, the court will hold a non-public conference with the parties to discuss the status of liquidated entries that have become final as well as refunds for importers that do not currently have cases pending in the CIT. We expect the Government will assert that implementing the court’s order will be highly burdensome on CBP.
Given the Government’s anticipated appeal and request for a stay, we recommend importers continue to file actions in the CIT as soon as possible. Additionally, importers should continue to protest entries with IEEPA duties within 180 days of liquidation to ensure that refund rights are fully protected while any refund-related issues are being litigated. Importers should also ensure they are set up in ACE to receive electronic refunds.
Please contact any of our attorneys with any questions.
